In a letter to Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Gadkari said since the marine liquid terminal is a public-private-partnership (PPP) project, under the concessionaire agreement it may not be possible.
IndianOil and the Kamarajar Port (KPL) had signed an agreement in March 2014 for setting up an LNG import terminal, which is expected to be operational by 2018 and would come up at an estimated investment of about Rs 5,150 crore. It would have an annual capacity of five million tonnes. Under the agreement, IndianOil plans to build a captive jetty at the Kamarajar Port to handle petroleum, oil and lubricants, LPG products and lube oil base stock in bulk in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states.
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The jetty will achieve a capacity of 3-3.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) by the fifth year of operation.
The Kamarajar Port, erstwhile Ennore Port, was declared as a major port under the Indian Ports Act, 1908, in March 1999 and incorporated as Ennore Port Limited under the Companies Act, 1956, in October 1999. The Kamarajar Port is the only corporatised major port and is registered as a company.
The Cabinet has allowed KPL to lease land for the terminal being built by a joint venture in which IndianOil will have a majority stake. IndianOil had obtained environment clearance for the project.
IndiaOil also plans to build a captive jetty at the port to handle petroleum, oil and lubricants, LPG products and lube oil base stock in bulk in Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring states. Last November, an MoU was signed between the companies for this project.
KPL had earmarked water front for the LNG jetty and land for the storage and re-gasification terminal. It had earlier given in-principle consent to IndianOil to set up the jetty, which will be 300 m in length.